It could take up to 60 days for an Arapahoe County judge to decide whether he will grant probation to a Saudi inmate and allow him to return home to complete sex-offender treatment he has refused in Colorado.

After 2½ days of testimony, District Court Judge J. Mark Hannen said he needed adequate time to consider Homaidan al-Turki’s request to return to Saudi Arabia. Al-Turki was convicted in 2006 of sexually assaulting his housekeeper and sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison.

Al-Turki maintains his innocence, and if he continues to refuse treatment — which his attorneys say violates al-Turki’s religion — he could remain in prison indefinitely.

Al-Turki has been investigated in connection with the March 19 slaying of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements. Authorities believe that parolee Evan Ebel shot and killed Clements, possibly on orders from the prison gang the 211 Crew.

Prosecutors argued Friday that if al-Turki is allowed to return to Saudi Arabia, he will not be accessible if criminal charges connected to Clements’ death are ever filed.

The Saudi government has said al-Turki will be supervised and receive treatment there if he returns. But prosecutor Ann Tomsic argued that the court has no authority to ensure that al-Turki completes the Saudi program.

“He has the key to his cell door, and it is successfully progressing in sex-offender treatment,” Tomsic said.

But Mueller said completing the treatment program would violate al-Turki’s Fifth Amendment rights and would imply an admission of guilt. A third defense team for al-Turki announced on Friday they plan to file a post-conviction appeal in December.

Jordan Steffen was the legal affairs reporter for The Denver Post. She left the organization in June 2016 after joining in January 2011. Her past coverage areas included breaking news, child welfare, the western suburbs and crime. She was raised in the Colorado mountains and graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder.

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